The Dallas Mavericks stunned the NBA in Game 7 of the West Semifinals by absolutely demolishing the Phoenix Suns, leading by more than 40 points for much of the second half in an astonishing 123-90 win.
So, with Luka Doncic arguably the best player in the league right now and with the likes of Spencer Dinwiddie, Jalen Brunson and others hitting key shots for the Mavericks, how do the Warriors stop them?
The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson knows the Warriors as well as anyone, and joined Papa & Lund on Tuesday to break it all down.
In his view, it starts with offensive proactivity from Draymond Green. As he relayed, when Green takes at least nine shots, the Warriors are 68-19 in the playoffs.
But on the defensive end, there are more questions. How do they stop Doncic?
“Ideally you don’t want Draymond on Luka, especially early,” Thompson said on KNBR. “Mostly because you’ve got to presume the person that guards Luka is going to pick up fouls. And the difference in the Warriors’ whole ethos is Draymond not picking up fouls… I do think if Luka’s rolling and other people are in foul trouble, I do feel like you put Draymond on him late in games and now you’ve got Looney to handle the boards.”
Thompson says it’s not really about Doncic. It’s about the supporting cast.
“I don’t think the concern is Luka going off,” Thompson said. “I feel like they’ll be fine with Luka getting 40. It’s Dorian Finney-Smith, it’s Jalen Brunson, it’s Reggie Bullock, it’s Maxi Kleber, it’s the 3-point shooting that they’ve got to cut off. To me, Luka is almost inevitable. The real answer to the Mavericks is stopping those other guys.”
Much like the Warriors’ approach against Nikola Jokic, Thompson thinks it’s less about trying to stop the star player; it’s about being sound elsewhere. The Warriors need to protect the 3-point line and force the Mavericks to beat them elsewhere.
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Catch Papa & Lund weekdays from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on KNBR 104.5 / 680 and streaming live on KNBR.com.